Film critic and historian. Director and writer of documentaries about cinema. Professor of Styles and Techniques of Cinema (Production Design) at the Academy of Architecture (Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano-Mendrisio).

Started working as a festival manufacturer with “Ombre elettriche” (Turin 1981), the largest-scale retrospective of Chinese cinema ever organized in the West. Subsequently director of the festivals of Pesaro (1982-1989), Rotterdam (1989-1991) and Locarno (1992-2000). From 2004 to 2011 director of the Venice International Film Festival (the longest term ever in Venice); since 2012 he has directed the Rome Film Festival.

In his parallel career as a producer, he produced and co-produced 14 features including award-winning (Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, top-tier honours in Cannes and Venice) films from China, Bosnia, Turkey, Iran, Russia and Central Asia, Brazil.

Peter Webber

British director, Documentary filmmaker and a Producer, best known for his debut feature film Girl with a Pearl Earring (Scalrett Johansson, Colit Firth) Hannibal Rising (Gaspard Ulliel,Gong Li,Rhys Ifans, Dominic West) and Emperor (Tommy Lee Jones).

Peter Webbers first feature film has received numerous accolades, including three Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and 10 BAFTA Award nominations. An award-winning documentary director, Webber directed films deal with a a range of subjects, including several programmes for BBC Channel about Classical music. Webber is an executive producer of the Sarajevo Film Festival winner ‘For the Love of Books’, which was also the recipient of a Grierson award in 2012 for Best Historical Documentary.

Severija Janušauskaitė

Born 1981 in Lithuania,2005 she graduated Lithuanian Theatre and Film Academy .For 10 years worked in Lithuanian theatre , cinema and joined international projects. Past three years works with famous Russian directors as Aliona Zvancova, Anna Melikiyan and others. For A. Melikiyan’s film “The Star” actress won the prize for the best woman actress in Kinotavr film festival in 2014.

Nana Ekvtimishvili

Nana Ekvtimishvili is a script writer and director, born in 1978. Studied at Philosophy department of Tbilisi State University. Graduated from Konrad Wolf Film Academy of Potstdam-Babelsberg.

After working on several short and feature films, she collaborated with Simon Gross on „In Bloom“ in 2012, which was screened at more then 80 International Film Festivals and received numerous prizes. In 2013, „In Bloom“ was named as the representative of a Georgian New Wave at Berlin International Film Festival. Hong-Kong film festival mentioned the film as the „Spring of Georgian Cinema.“ International critiques alliance FIPRESCI identifid the film as an example of Georgian Film reneissance.

Nana Ekvtimishvili lives in Tbilisi currently and is working on a new film „My Family.“ She has also completed her novel „Filed of Pears.“

Reza Mirkarimi

Irranian Filmmaker. Reza Mirkarimi began directing short films in 1987. Then he worked for TV station and shot a number of TV series and sport documentaries. He made his feature debut with ‘The Child and the Soldier’ (Koodakva Sarbaz) in 2000. The film won several national and international awards, including the 'Golden Butterfly' at the 1999 Isfahan International Children and Teenagers Film Festival, Iran and the 'Montgolfiere d’Argent' at the Festival of 3 Continents, Nantes, France in 2000, as well the "Golden Shoe" at the 'Children and Teenagers Film Festival' in Zelin, Croatia in 2001, andwas released in France in 2001. His second feature, ‘Under the Moonlight’ (Zir-eNoor-e Maah), won the Critics’ Week Grand Prix at Cannes in 2001, as well as the Best Director's Award and the Jury Special Prize at the Tokyo IFF in 2001.

Three of Mirkarimi’s films have been presented by Iran for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar: ' So Close, So Far', 'A Cube of Sugar' and his recent feature, 'Today'. Reza Mirkarimi has also sat on juries of several international film festivals.

Jurry of National Competition

Ulrich Gregor

A film historian and critic, Ulrich Gregor has a long-term friendship and cooperation with Tbilisi Film Festival. Professor of the history of film at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. Co-founder of institute for Cinema and Video Art "Arsenal" and head of the organizational group. Director of the International Forum for New Cinema at the Berlin Film Festival until 2001. Since 1981, together with Moritz de Hadeln was the director of Berlin Film Festival. Ulrich Gregor is considered among the leading film critics.

Together with his wife, Erika Gregor, he has significantly contributed to the development of the Cinema by curatorial work. Erika and Ulrich Gregors were awarded A Berlinale Camera at Berlin Film Festival in 2010 for the special contribution to cinema. Apart from the life-long experience in Television and radio, his articles are permanently published in the international film journals as well (Nuovo Cinema, Cinema 56).

Naum Kleiman

Film Critic and a Historian of Cinema, an acclaimed specialist in Sergei Eisenstein. Is an author of numerous scientific works on Theory of Cinema and History of Film. Naum Kleiman headed the State Cinema Museum of Russia for 25 years. Honored Professor of VGIK (State Cinema Institute), Moscow and doctor Honoris Causa at University of Nancy, France. Between 1992 and 2010 was a jury member of International Film festivals in Venice, Berlin, Leipzig, Toronto, Paris, Locarno, Istanbul, Dushande and Tehran. Kleiman is a memmber of European Film Academy (EFA) and The Academy of Art, Berlin. He is a holder of up to 20 International awards.

Erika Gregor

Studied German and English literature, History and Philosophy in Gottingen, London, Munich and Berlin. In 1963 co-founder and since then active member of the association "Friends of the German Cinematheque". Programmer and organizer for the Arsenal cinema since its foundation in 1970. From 1971 to 2004 member of selection committee of the International Forum of New Cinema of the Berlin Film Festival. Festival organizer and coordinator, member of festival juries and film funding commissions. Curating of retrospectives, national and thematic film programmes ("Stations of modernism", "Jewish Lifestyles", "Japan and Europe", "Moscow-Berlin", "German Images") in the Eighties and Nineties. Publication of books and catalogues and (together with Ulrich Gregor) of the ongoing series „Kinemathek".

Erika and Ulrich Gregors were awarded A Berlinale Camera at Berlin Film Festival in 2010 for the special contribution to cinema.